Improvement in steam-engines



FRANK n.K1a'nr,"or`Nnw YORK, N. v.l

Letters Patent No. 108,156, dated otober 11, 1870.-

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-ENGINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'FRANK E. KIRBY, of the city of New York, i'n thecounty and State ot' New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enableothers skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being hadto Ytheaccompanying drawing forming part of this specification.

The object ot' this invention is to provide simple and elicient meansfor varying, according to the load or speed of the engine, the positionot' the cut-oli` valves over the ports, andon the back of 'the main Lslide valve, by means of which the requisite quantity of steam may bemeasured 'out for each stroke of the engine, according to the load orpower required; and the invention consists in the application of anauxiliary cylinder and pistomfor the use of either steam or liquid, thevalve of which is actuated by the governor ot' the steam-engine, thepiston-rod of which auxiliary cylinder is a cogged rack, engaging with apinion on the cut-oli` valve-rod, or the equivalent of a rack andpinion, by means of which that valve-rod may be revolved, or otherwisemoved, and by such revolutirmh or movement to vary the position of thecut-oi valves, the whole arranged and operating as hereinafter morefully set fort-h and described. A

In theaccompauyiug drawing- Figure l represents a longitudinal back-sideview of an engine-frame with the valve-gear exposed to view and showingmy improvement. l

Figure 2 is a horizontal section of fig. 1 on the line w W.

YFigure 3 is a vertical section ol' iig. 4 on the line rIigure 4 is avertical section of lig. 3 on the line Figure 5 is a vertical section oflig. 2 on the line. Z Z.

Similarletters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A. represents the Cylinder of the engine.

B is the pistou.

C is the piston-rod.

ll) is the steam-chest.

E is t-ho slide valve.

F represents the engine-frame.

The mode of connecting the cylinder A with the frame, so as to projectthe cylinder into the steam- 1chesrt, and shorten the posts or passages,is seen in (l is the slide-valve rod.

H is the cut-oli` valve-rod.

II represents the cut-oli` valre which works on the hack of the mainslidefvalves.

l J Jtarethe steam-ports through the slide-valves, over which thecut-oft` valves work.

K K are the steampassages to the cylinder.V

L represents the exhaust.

'lherods- G and H are actuated by a connection attached to the jaw M oftherod` N, by means A of the arms O and I. t

The former is a portion of the sleeve g, which sleeve is adjustable onthe rod N. The latter takesdirectly hold of the rod G.

It will be seen that the main slide-valves and the cut-cti valves havethe same longitudinal movement. rlhe cut-ofi' valves arc connected withthe rod H by a right and left-hand screw, R R, and thevalve-rod H isarranged so that it may, with the screws It R, be revolved, or partiallyrevolved, as maybe required, by which revolution, or partial revolutionin either di- `rectiou, the position of the valves is varied.

This arrangement of cutoff valves, operated by right and left-handscrews, on a valve-rod susceptible ot" rotary motion, I am aware is notnew. Efforts have been made to rotate this valve-rod, and thereby makethe proper adjustment of the valves automatic, by connecting it directlywith the governor, but such connection has been fourni to interfere somaterially with the proper action of the governor, and the governoritself being so imperfectly adapted for the purpose, when so connected,that such eiiortshave not Vproved successful. The method now, where thisde scription of variable cut-oil" valve is used, is to'rotate the rodand adjust the cut-oli` by hand.`

My object has been to render the yariahle cnt-cfrn i valves automatic,according to the requirements of the engine, by means of the governor,but in a manner which docs not interfere with or entirely depend uponits action. For this purpose I provide the auxiliary cylinder S, placedin any convenient position.v

T is the piston in this cylinder, and

4U is the piston-rod, on which is a cogged rack V.

The upper end of the rod U passes up through the engine-frame, as seenat W, where it is supported in a vertical position, and so that itmay-.be raised' or lowered by hand, if desired.

4 X is a pinion, supported between the two hangers y', from the frameot' the engine.

This pinion has a square hole through it, and the end ot the valve-rod His made square, to t thc pinion loosely, so that there shall be nofriction to interfere with the longitudinal movement of the rod. Therack V engages with the pinion X, and the valve-rod yis given a rotatingmovement by the 'riseand fall or vertical movementV of the rack. Thisvertical move ment is produced by means of steam or water acting in thecylinder S on the.piston T. The steam or water, under boiler pressure,is admitted to the cylinderv by means of balanced valves y y in thechamber Z.

'Ihis valve is connected with the governor byfan arrangement seen infig. 4l.

a is an arm, extending horizontally from the rack c is a level', oneendof which is pi voted to the arm a. The other end is connectedh with theend of the valve-rod d by the connecting-link e. lf is a rod, connecteddirectly with the governor and with the lever c by the connecting-linkg. v

The steam or water is admitted to the ends of the valve-,chest andexhausted between the valves y y, as indicated in the drawing. VBy meansof the lever c, any movement of the pis- Y ton T causes a movement ofthe valve, which instant- 'ly closes the ports,land holds the piston andcnt-ofi` The eifect of varying the pressure on the piston T -is toinstantly vary the position of the cnt-off valves1 letting on or cuttingoff steam, and ineasuringit ontfor each stroke, to meet the requirementsof the eugine. This action, to lbe perfect, mustl be automatic.

The common Acentrifugal governor, unaided by other mechanism, is, atbest, but a poor regulator of the steam-engine. WVhen connected directlywith a entf,

olf valve it cannot change its action with suicient rapidity oruniformity to render it of vany material value. By' my arrangement, itwill be seen, that the first slight variation of the balls does thework. ing stantly and perfectly.

The left-hand portion of the figs. 1 and 2, and the detail views, gs. 3and 4, illustrate a device for couverting the air-pump Pinto an enginefor extinguishing tires and forcing water.

P' is the air-pum p of the condenser R', which connects with the exhaustof vthe steam-engine by the pipes.

valve T,so as to-close the -ivaterfinduction pipe'V', and attaching ahose to the tube W', I have a water-forcing engine ot' any requiredpower.

Havingthns described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In combinationwith the cut-off valve of a steamengine, the auxiliary cylinder S,piston T and valves y y, for` varying the position ot' timeout-offvalves, vsubstantially as described. l l

2. The valve-gear, composed of the lever c, arm a, and connections e andg, when the same are arranged to operate in conuection'with the governorand piston T, substantially as and fin the purposes described.

. FRANK E. KIRBY.

Witnesses: Y

GEO. W. MABEE, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

By closing the exhaust-pipe S andlowering theVV

